Sisterhood
by compass-ink
Summary: Lenna and Faris slowly put together the pieces.
1. Carwen

"Oh, my stars and garters! He's a _she!_"

Lenna had a hard time falling asleep that night. That exclamation of Galuf's had opened an astonishing door of possibility. At first, she had assumed that Faris had gotten his hands on a royal pendant through any of the ways a pirate could get his hands on anything. But the question of how _she_ had gotten_her_ hands on it... the answer to that could be something else entirely. Something unlikely, something she wasn't sure she dared imagine, but a possibility nevertheless...

The ship graveyard wasn't exactly the best place to sit down and talk about childhoods, but Lenna kept her eye on the other woman as they fought and waded through the chill, splintered hulks. At first she saw only differences: a coarse voice from years of shouting, the way she laughed in triumph when she struck the final blow on a monster, her constant bickering with Galuf. But that was just the surface. They had the same eyes-maybe Faris didn't notice that, because pirates probably didn't look in mirrors that often, but Lenna knew it. And the more she glanced over to Faris in battle to check on her or say something, the more familiar her profile seemed: Father's straight nose, Mother's sharper chin. Now that Lenna knew Faris was a woman, half a dozen oddities were falling into a distinct pattern. By the time they finally reached a solid shore, she had formed a definite suspicion... but she stopped suddenly when the light went out of the sky. Bartz held out a hand uneccesarily. None of them moved forward.

"Something's fishy about this place," he muttered, and then added, in typical Bartz fashion, "and it ain't cod..."

But he lowered his arm slowly a moment later as a strange image wavered and became solid: a woman who looked not unlike him. "Bartz... come closer..."

"Mom?" He took a step forward, then another-then he collapsed onto the sand. They stared at him blankly. Lenna felt that she ought to do something, perhaps, but...

But then Father appeared and nothing else was important. "Come here, honey..."

"Father!" Her thoughts stayed back as she ran towards him, but they tried to register another pair of footsteps and Faris' voice behind her, and then... then... then Galuf was smacking her around the head and yelling. The vision was gone and for the hundredth time they had to fight.

They didn't linger after that long battle with the Siren, hurrying on to Carwen as quickly as they could. None of them spoke of it, not that Lenna particularly wanted to bring it up either. But she soon felt quite certain that Faris had been next to her in those moments before they fell.

* * *

They split up in Carwen after they heard the rumors about Hiryu-Bartz off to buy supplies, Galuf off to the pub, and Lenna stayed outside to keep talking to the town's citizens in case anyone else could give them more information about what had happened. Nobody could tell her how badly Hiryu had been hurt or if he'd had a rider. She fiddled with her pendant for a moment, trying to quell her anxiety so she could think straight. Everything was getting tangled up in this-Father's disappearance, Hiryu, the Crystals. What if came to a choice between Hiryu's life and saving the Water Crystal? She recalled her trip to Walse a few years ago. There had been no talk of using any kind of machine on the Crystal then, not even a rumor.

"There you are-" Lenna started at Faris' voice behind her. "Been askin' some of the sailors here what they know," said the pirate, looking over at the trading cogs stranded at their piers. "Damn, this air is getting to me. Those ships might as well be in bottles for all the good they are right now."

"The sailors all seem restless," Lenna agreed. "It must be hurting trade all the coastal towns."

"That's so," Faris said, crossing her arms. "My men won't be able to get their hands on near about a seashell without that Wind Crystal. Not that we could get through the canal too often..."

Lenna gave her a puzzled look at first. Then comprehension dawned: Faris was talking about robbing these ships. It had been barely more than a week since she had them all tied up in her ship, Lenna reminded herself. If she was right, if Faris hadn't been born a pirate, that was still fifteen years of living among them, and not just that, but becoming their captain. Of course it would take more than a Crystal's words and a recent companionship to change a lifelong brigand into an honest person. It would be naive to think otherwise.

It wasn't the right time to speak up about their connection in any case. Things were far too urgent right now. "Let's go find Bartz and Galuf," she said. "They must be done by now. We need to get to North Mountain as quickly as possible."


	2. North Mountain

This was ridiculous. If Faris didn't know himself better, he'd say he was actually getting fond of these people. Let that happen, and pretty soon he'd actually be caring about this Light Warrior business-why the Crystals would pick someone like him was a mystery, except that a pirate had a vested interest in making sure wind and water worked properly. He had to admit, getting out of Carwen took an enormous weight off his chest. Sleeping in a town full of crippled ships set his teeth on edge almost as bad as the ship graveyard. Now they were on the move again, he could concentrate on fighting with monsters and arguing with the old geezer instead of thinking how they'd left Syldra for dead in the Torna Canal.

Once they got to the Wind Shrine and found King Tycoon, Faris would have what he set out for. And then he'd leave. Well, he'd leave once they saved the water crystal and put the one for wind back together.

It was hard to convince himself that he'd be that sensible when he was walking beside Lenna, though.

_Why does the princess of Tycoon have the same pendant as I do?_ It was a simple question right up to the point where he tried answering it. Oh sure, it was the symbol of the Tycoon royal family or whatever; for all he knew his pirate father could have stolen it from somewhere else and given it to him. There wasn't a lot he remembered about the early days. And fine, they looked a little alike if you squinted and let your imagination run wild-same eyes, kind of the same voice too if Faris imagined his own without all the sandpaper and cussing in it.

Not to mention the whole _princess_ thing. It had taken her a while to be a good fighter, even as a white mage, 'cause she had this nasty habit of not healing herself unless one of them ordered her to. Although Faris had to admit she was much better now. When she paired a Knight's armor paired with that white magic, Lenna was a force to be reckoned with in battle-a quick study for someone who'd been raised in a castle. Not that Faris was keeping an eye on her. Not that he wanted especially to bash in any monster that got in a hit on her. Not that he had any memories attached to the words "a castle." Memories of books and someone tiny with pink hair and a very tall man with a beard...

Neptune's trident, he'd been away from the sea too long if he was seriously entertaining these thoughts! Best turn his thoughts to what was going on right now, North Mountain. He took a deep breath of the chilly air that flowed from the top of the mountain in spite of the still air around them. The clear, cold weather would be good for an endless trek uphill. And the slopes were obligingly riddled with monsters, providing him ample distraction from his wild fancies.

They took a breather a good chunk of the way up as the slopes leveled out a bit. Faris wiped the sweat from his face with his shawl and traded insults with Galuf as he complained loudly of blisters while Bartz methodically emptied the rocks out of his boots and kept an eye out for ambush. Without warning, Lenna let out a gasp. "Father's helmet!"

Faris followed her pointing finger. Well, look at that, a big pointy helmet just lying on the grass. Had it fallen during flight? Like hell-but before he could say a word she was off, and just like that, a scantily-clad woman leapt from behind a rock and fired a bow.

"Lenna!" That was Bartz. Faris had frozen to the spot, watching Lenna fall to her knees, clutching at the arrow that protruded from her arm. Her skin was taking on the bluish cast that Faris had come to know for poison.

The ground moved before any of them could. They staggered as the earth between them fell away into a chasm, an endless gulf between him and Lenna. "Ohohoho!" the strange woman said as soon as it stilled. Faris felt his blood boil at the appraising look the woman gave Lenna. "I came here after that wind drake, but it seems I've caught something even more valuable."

"Wait... you'd hunt a wind drake?!" Bartz exclaimed. Faris wanted to hit him. Who the hell cared about wind drakes right now?!

"Of course," said the hunter woman. "The horns fetch quite a high price on the black market, ohohoho! And I see I've caught no less than the princess of Tycoon!" The princess of Tycoon was on her hands and knees, face twisted in pain, trying not to faint by the looks of it. "Yes, you'll make a lovely souvenir for my husband."

_That_ unfroze Faris. "Let her go, you addle-pated foul-complexioned scofflaw!" Before he had time to reflect on how ridiculous that had come out he was running to the edge of the cliff. He made the jump easily, but a bark of triumphant laughter strangled as the rock cracked beneath his feet.

_Falling._ He heard voices yelling above him. _A hand reaching, screaming his name, not Faris, everything outsized-_ he couldn't make out the words. His hands were too busy scrabbling at the cliff face; the jagged rock made him pay for salvation as stinging pain scored his arms. He turned his face skywards._A tiny head of pink hair._ But that was her being far away. What the hell was going on in his head? Then Magissa's head appeared, laughing, gloating over his demise. And the bitch couldn't even come up with a more creative than "oops, he fell." Oops!

_I'll show you oops, you rat bastard._

Rage propelled him upwards; his arms and legs had spent too many years running around a ship's rigging in stormy seas to falter on rock. He was hauling himself up, he was back on level ground, he was throwing a rope to Bartz and Galuf. The hunter woman backed away, apparently too shocked to attack or hold a knife to Lenna's throat.

"Lenna, hang on!" Bartz cried as he and Galuf dashed over. Faris unsheathed his sword, knowing they'd have his back as he ran to Lenna's side and yanked an antidote from his pocket. He grinned at the huntress, tasting blood on his teeth from the wild fall as he took Lenna's arm to help her up. He didn't suggest she fall back-she deserved the chance to wipe the mountainside with that harpy's face.

Cripes, though, she was no joke to fight-nor was that husband of hers. What a tower of muscles! Faris had to grudgingly admit that he would be in real trouble if there weren't four of them fighting. Hell's teeth, but it was tough, he thought as they finally pounded the villainous pair into submission. And if he hadn't been quick and lucky back there, he'd be gone and Lenna would be lost, with their questions forever unanswered. No way to find the king... and he supposed the Crystals would have to pick out some other warriors.

Faris shook his head at himself as they toiled up the green slopes. Hah, you'd have thought he was never in a fight for his life before from the way he was fretting over it. The stakes today weren't any higher than they'd been any other time just because he was with three hapless vagabonds instead of his actual crew. He was still trying to convince himself of that when the ground finally leveled out onto a mound of flowers and a dragon.

He drew in his breath with a hiss. Even at this distance, Faris could see how greviously it was wounded. "Hiryu!" Lenna exclaimed, hurrying towards it.

"He's hurt pretty bad..." Faris said, following. He could see the dragon grass in the thick of the mountain's poison flowers. Damn, that wind drake needed some medicine, but how were they to get to it?

Lenna was looking at it too. Faris should have been paying more attention to that. "Hiryu... don't worry. I'll take care of you." And just like that, she was walking into the flowers. Right into them!

"Lenna!" Faris rushed after her. "What-Where're you going?!"

"Don't come any closer!" The steel in her voice stopped Faris in his tracks. "Just... must reach the dragon grass..." Faris shifted restlessly from one foot to the other, forced to watch as the princess struggled forward, plucking the dragon grass and stumbling back. She couldn't even make it all the way. Faris grabbed her and pulled her back from the evil shrubs and found the herb being pushed into her hands. "Give the dragon grass to Hiryu... quickly..." Lenna murmured as she sank to the ground in Faris' arms.

He thought of Syldra vanishing into the whirlpool. Laying Lenna's head down gently, Faris sprinted to the wind drake. "Eat it, eat it," he hissed, holding out the leaves. It seemed to recognize it, nibbling them gently from its hands. The wounds shrank and vanished before its eyes. Color came back into its sickly scales as it threw back its head, letting out a cry so like Syldra's it sent shivers down Faris' spine. Then it turned its eyes towards Lenna. Faris backed away as it reached its long neck towards her-a bright light flashed and suddenly she was on her feet as though she'd never even heard of poison.

Faris heaved a sigh of relief. He found himself giving the wind drake a pat on the neck. Somehow he couldn't find his voice. Probably best, that. He'd probably say something embarrassing... had to let the old man take care of berating her for doing something so "insanely reckless." _Just as reckless as trying to dive into a whirlpool, aye, Faris?_

It came as a welcome relief to have a laugh at Bartz after that.


	3. Tycoon Castle

The Chancellor hurried off to go make preparations for the party's overnight stay, with Bartz and Galuf following him in the hopes of finding where the kitchens were. Lenna was surprised that Faris lingered at her side. "What a fussbudget," the pirate remarked, visibly unimpressed. "Do you deal with that all the time while you're at home?"

Lenna sighed and shook her head. "That's not very fair," she said, looking Faris in the eye. "He has already lost my older sister and my mother. With Father still missing... I don't blame him for asking me to stay. If there wasn't so much at risk, I would stay."

"And if you didn't still need to find him." Faris didn't need to specify who she spoke of. If she was trying to hide her reaction to the talk of Lenna's family, she was doing a poor job of it, Lenna thought to herself. Faris seemed to realize it too, quickly taking an interest in the castle's decorations. "You've probably a lot to do around here, people to talk to. I'll just go and make sure those two dolts aren't about to burn the place down," she said, a little too quickly. Lenna watched her slouch off, noting that she seemed to be pausing to inspect her surroundings in a way that didn't suggest disorientation. She wished that Father were here. The Chancellor hadn't given any sign that he recognized Faris, quite the opposite really. He'd been rather taken aback by the sight of the other three; if Lenna tried to suggest that there was any connection between the royal family and a pirate captain, he would think she'd gone mad. But Father, surely, would see what Lenna saw.

...Of course. There was a person still here that Lenna could speak of this to. Heart racing, she hurried to the eastern tower.

Jenica was there when Lenna entered the library. Though the old woman had no more young princesses to raise, she remained as the caretaker of the kingdom's records and genealogies. "Your Highness!" she exclaimed, smiling warmly. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to greet you at the doors, but I did hear that you had come back." She rose from her chair and took Lenna's hands. "And that you've been traveling with a pack of strange vagabonds, although if you are they've not visited this part of the castle."

"It's good to see you again." Lenna laughed a little at the description of her new friends. "They aren't-well, they are strange when you first meet them, but they're good people. Truly, I would not have made it back here without them by my side."

"Then I shall trust your judgment of them, my lady."

Lenna let go of Jenica's hands. "We should sit down," she said softly. "There's something I'd like to talk about."

"I have no objections to sitting," Jenica said, sinking back down in her chair. Lenna pulled up one of her own at the reading table and sat, trying to dispel her sudden nervousness. But she couldn't help it. Nobody had spoken of the tragedy for years. To bring it up again and about such a person would sound fanciful and desperate-but Jenica had known Sarisa as a child, and she had raised Lenna through the years of the queen's illness. She had been as much mother as matron to the two of them.

Lenna took a deep breath, hands clasped in her lap. "I'm nearly certain that Faris is Princess Sarisa." The words seemed to ring inordinately loud in the library and for a long moment, Jenica did not respond except to give Lenna a long, searching look. Then she sighed and tilted her head back.

"My lady, I understand how difficult these times must be for you," she said, not unkindly. "With your father missing and your mother gone, you may soon be the last of your family. But Sarisa has been gone for these fifteen years now. We've never had any word of a sighting." She shook her head. "Even the King did not hope for her survival."

"I do know that," Lenna said. She hadn't expected a reaction anything other than skepticism. "But you've never known me to wish for her before, not since before I can remember." She had been just three years old, and while she could bring to mind vague images of a girl with purple hair, that was all there was. "But Father's men were searching for a little girl. Faris was taken in by pirates, raised to be a man, and to avoid royal soldiers too." That made Jenica look more thoughtful, Lenna saw. "But we've been traveling together for many weeks now. I see both Father and Mother in her features. And... she has our royal pendant."

Jenica eyes widened, but she looked far from convinced. "A pirate could get hold of that any number of ways... and," she went on, "do you mean to say that the princess became a rogue and a criminal?"

Lenna shook her head. It had troubled her too and she doubted the tale of their meeting would help her case at all, but she had seen that piracy wasn't all there was to Faris. "She has a good heart in spite of that," she insisted. Even though Faris didn't like to show it, she added in her head. "Moreover, she recognized Father when we saw him at the Wind Shrine. She hasn't said as much, but it's plain to see. For that matter, she walks around the castle itself like she knows it." Jenica was nodding as she listened to her liege lady, quietly waiting for her to continue. "There was a sea-dragon named Syldra she held a bond to as close as family..." She trailed off then, remembering how Faris had tried to leap into the whirlpool after her. "You know how dragons and Tycoons have always been drawn to one another."

And that was all, for now. Jenica again didn't speak for some time; Lenna had to restrain herself from staring at her for an answer. "It sounds far-fetched, my lady," she said slowly, "but it's true, you've never been one for wild fancies." She met Lenna's eye. "I will need to meet her myself to say if you're right or not."

Lenna leaned back in her chair with a wide smile of relief. She hadn't realized how tense she'd been. "Thank you, Jenica."

Jenica waved her hand a little in dismissal. "Have you told her of your suspicions?"

Lenna shook her head. "No... not yet. I wanted to be certain, and there doesn't seem to have been a good time for it until now."

Jenica nodded. "Very well. My lady, I think it would be best if I did not seek her out right away," she said. "It's been so long since any of us saw Sarisa-there are things I must remember. It wouldn't be good if I met your friend and saw Sarisa only because I was expecting to."

The suggestion was... sensible. Not desirable, but sensible. Lenna nodded her agreement. "All right. Then we'll talk again tomorrow, before we depart for Walse."

* * *

Sleep that night seemed unwilling in coming. Lenna couldn't stop her heart from racing at the thought of talking to Faris, wondering if Jenica would see the same things shedid, the thought of a sister she had never known... She tried to make herself comfortable without success. In times past she had found a return to her own bed in the castle a welcome end to to a journey abroad. Now it felt wrong, perhaps because the journey was far from over. And the silence in the room felt lonely rather than peaceful now;She hadn't thought she would ever miss Galuf's loud snores.

With a sigh, Lenna rose and went to the window. She could see by the position of the moon that it had gone past midnight. Perhaps some fresh air would ease her fizzling nerves. Lenna padded barefoot to the parapet door. She could go out there without bothering any of the servants. Stepping outside onto the parapet, her breath caught in her throat as she saw it already occupied. "Faris?"

"Hm?" The pirate had been staring moodily out over the forest, but it went out of her face when she turned. "Ah, Lenna. It's late... you should be in bed."

"So should you... sister."

There it was. She hadn't meant to say it like that, but even without Jenica's opinion, Lenna knew. She _knew_ she was right. And by the look on her face, Faris did as well. Feeling propelled by a powerful feeling she couldn't name she stepped forward. Faris even had her pendant out, the jewel shining against her tunic as the moonlight threw her Tycoon features into sharp relief. If there had been any doubt left in Lenna's mind it was gone now. "I'm right, aren't I? You're my older sister..."

But Faris shook her head violently. "Wh-what are you going on about? Me, your..." The very word seemed to stick in her throat. "That's daft!" She glared at Lenna in a way she never had before, even when she'd discovered them on her ship. Lenna took a step back.

"But..."

"Besides," Faris went on, suddenly blithe, "a buccaneer like me, really a prince-er, princess? 'Tis a bit much, that!" She tried to finish it off with a hearty laugh, but it fell flat, and she looked away with fists clenched. Lenna stood there stunned at her behavior; before she could say anything more, Faris had rushed off insided and slammed the door, leaving Lenna alone on the parapet.

"But..." She swallowed, staring at the space her sister had fled. "Your pendant..." All the words she'd prepared, the proofs she had offered to Jenica, sounded hollow now. What was the point if Faris refused to see it?

The next morning proved to be quiet after starting with a laugh at Bartz. Faris picked at her breakfast when normally she would wolf it down and Galuf's attempt to badger her into eating more prompted an angry rebuke rather than their usual good-natured bickering. She was also studiously not looking in Lenna's direction; Lenna tried to be forgiving. She didn't want to be angry at Faris. Maybe she'd been unfair to blurt it out the way she had-even if Faris did recognize the castle, it was a long step from deja vu to being told you were the lost princess of Tycoon.

...She didn't have to call it _daft._ Again Lenna told herself that it was simply Faris' way. She might have been slowly coming around to the same conclusion on her own, but that didn't mean she was ready to accept it. This was probably quite true, but Faris' words still hurt, as her silence did now.

It was a relief to leave the breakfast table and have another walk around the castle before packing to leave. That, Lenna noted, Faris seemed quite eager to do. Lenna decided to give her some space-to give herself some space of her own. Anyway, there was something she still needed to do. Bartz, Faris, and Galuf had explored the castle quite thoroughly yesterday. That had to be enough time. Lenna stepped into the library and found Jenica there waiting for her.

"My lady, good morning." Lenna nodded, waiting for her to continue. "I was about to come and see you myself. I did meet Faris." Her lips quirked in a slight smile; Lenna's heart leapt. "Just one conversation was all I needed to see the truth in your theory."

"Then..." Lenna wrapped her fingers around her pendant. "It's her. It's Sarisa."

Jenica nodded. "I hardly know what to think of it-and because of that, I will keep it to myself for now. But she is indeed your sister, the princess of Tycoon."


End file.
